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Best fut forward - Swindon Advertiser |
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Tuesday, 04 May 2010 00:32 |
 Swindon AdvertiserDESPITE its huge growth in popularity in recent years, futsal remains a sport that is a mystery to many. The easiest way to describe it is as ...
DESPITE its huge growth in popularity in recent years, futsal remains a sport that is a mystery to many.
The easiest way to describe it is as a five-a-side form of indoor football, but that is not a definition that sits particularly comfortably with Graeme Dell.
A former England futsal manager, Dell is employed by the Football Association to develop the game in this country, and is a member of the management team at Swindons @Futsal arena.
I meet the 46-year-old at the Kembrey Park facility, and am keen to find out whether he believes futsal stands on its own two feet, or merely improves skills for the 11-a-side game.
I think its a bit of all of the above, he said.
But the laws are very different to what we would know as five-a-side and very different to football.
One of the mistakes the developing nations have made is that they try to latch it onto the back of football and not treat it as a game in its own right, and once you do that, youre in a danger zone because youre trying to compete.
This will compete with every other sport but its not a replacement for football, it goes hand in glove with it.
Because of the success of countries such as Brazil and Spain on the international stage, those looking from the outside have often labelled futsal as a more creative, flair-driven game than its counterparts.
But as Dell points out when I try some the basic skills, its more about keeping it simple than anything else.
Control the ball.
Play the easy pass.
Move.
It makes complete sense.
Rarely do you see the likes of Iniesta and Xavi lose the ball because that is exactly what they do on the pitch, and Dell agrees.
Futsal will offer players left and right-footed development and an understanding of interplay within different positions, he said.
You dont have a fixed forward, a fixed defender, a fixed winger, a fixed goalkeeper - you have to constantly rotate, and what that does is develops a more rounded player.
Those players that we eulogise about week-in week-out - Fabregas, Deco, Iniesta, Xavi - theyve all grown up playing this game.
You could put them anywhere on a football pitch and they would do a competent, capable job, more so than many of the players that we (in England) develop.
My belief is that much of that is down to their formative years spent playing this game.
With three official FIFA futsal pitches, one international FIFA futsal pitch, electronic pitch-side scoreboards and live video replays of matches, it is impossible not to be impressed by @Futsal.
But for Dell, who has been all over the world in the name of the sport, how does it compare with arenas he has seen elsewhere? I spent five years as national coach for the FA, researching and finding out how we could get better at it, learning more about the game, he said.
I watched over 100 national teams play or train and saw some fantastic facilities, and this at Swindon is among the best.
Ive not seen many better than theyve got here.
Its superb and needs to be used.
Its got everything you need for the game. |
Argentina
Brazil
China PR
Cuba
Czech
Eqypt
Guatemala
Italy
Iran
Japan
Libya
Paraguay
Portugal
Russia
Spain
Soloman
Thailand
Ukraine
USA
Uruguay
